The four-day festival will have feature films, documentaries and short films

With some of the best indie films from Poland, Sri Lanka, Australia and Laos participating, the second edition of the Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF), starting Thursday in McLeod Ganj, promises to enrich viewers’ experience about different societies and cultures. Being organised in the scenic locales of Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, and the annual, four-day event will be a unique experience for the movie aficionados who will be served with a bouquet of over 40 contemporary works that includes feature films, documentaries and short movies.

Conceptualised by internationally acclaimed filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam, the DIFF is presented through their non-profit organisation, White Crane Arts & Media Trust. “Our main aim this time is to establish DIFF as a world-class film festival. Showcasing the best of both Indian and world cinema, the second edition will continue to create a cultural space for the local population too,” Sarin said. “This year, we have filmmakers coming from all around the world presenting a selection of films which have rarely been shown in India. We are also aiming to encourage film lovers and visitors from India and abroad to visit Dharamsala by establishing a world-class film festival and promoting it as an destination for cultural tourism,” she added.

There will be Oscar flavour too as this year’s documentary selection will represent some of the most powerful films from the Director’s Cut of the Oscar-favourite. The names include Joshuah Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing, Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin’s Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer.

Indian documentaries will be led by Anand Patwardhan’s Jai Bhim Comrade, Nishtha Jain’s Gulabi Gang and Avijit Mukul Kishore’s To Let the World In.

International entries include indie films, which are winning acclaim at film festivals worldwide. The list includes Jacek Borcuch’s Polish film Lasting; Prasanna Vithanage’s Sri Lankan movie With You Without You, Cate Shortland’s Lore from Australia, which was also the Best Foreign Film Oscar Nominee, and Kim Mordaunt’s The Rocket from Laos.

The highlight of the fest will be Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky’s much-acclaimed Canadian documentary “Watermark”, with Baichwal in attendance. The film had its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Talking about the country that the fest is focusing upon, Sarin said: “We haven’t focussed on any specific country, but we do have Polish film ‘Lasting’. We also have amazing film called ‘Watermark’ coming. The film went to Toronto International Film Festival so it is going to be one of the high points of this edition.”

Interactions are an important part of the fest and the likes of Amit Virmani, director of Menstrual Man, and Prasanna Vithanage, director of With you, Without you, and Anand Patwardhan will be there to share their experience.

Talking about the unique thing about the fest, Sarin said the Art and Film section brings a selection of acclaimed art films in collaboration with DIFF’s main partner, Vienna-based Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Foundation (TBA21), to India for the first time. A special sidebar at this year’s DIFF showcases the best of recent short films from India, curated by noted Indian filmmaker Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni.

An exhibition of Japanese artist Tomoyo Ihaya’s drawings from Dharamsala – Tibet Burning – will be on display at the event.

Why Dharamsala for such an international event like this?

“Dharmsala is like an international platform with a lot of foreigners visiting here, so I think, it will set new trends. Also, the entry is free for everybody and we are also providing transport to different local colleges and schools to come and be the part of fest,” said Sarin. She added she has been getting support from the Himachal government and local administration to the fest, a world-class event.

The festival begins on October 24 and has some interesting films in the line-up

The second edition of Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF), starting October 24, will showcase a mix of 30 films, including fiction, documentaries, short movies and experimental cinema.begins October

“This year’s journey has been in trying to define what the festival is about. We will have independent films, documentaries, panel discussions and master classes,” said documentary filmmaker and DIFF director Ritu Sarin, who made When Hari Got Married along with her husband and co-director, DIFF, Tenzing Sonam.

The international line up includes Indian premiere of Russian documentary Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer by Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin, Polish filmmaker Jacek Borcuch’s Lasting and Australian director Kate Shortland’s Lore.

Indian documentaries will also be in focus with the screening of Nishtha Shah’s Gulabi Gang, filmmaker Amit Virmani’s Menstrual Man and Anand Patwardhan’s Jai Bhim Comrade.

“We have also focussed on a lot of films from all over the world with children protagonists. The range of these films was incredible,” said Sonam. The films in the section include Kim Mordaunt’s The Rocket, which will take the viewers to Laos, is said to have extraordinary performance from former street kid Sitthiphon Disamoe as Ahlo, and Chilean writer-director Dominga Sotomayor’s Thursday Till Sunday, about a family’s car journey.

Brazilian entry to the Oscars, Neighbouring Sounds, Alison Klayman’s Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry, and Prasanna Vithanage’s With You, Without You will also be screened at the fest.

Marathi filmmaker Umesh Kulkarni has also undertaken a short film initiative. “Short films are my first love. I have decided to screen eight short films dealing with different subjects,” Kulkarni said at the launch. He will bring films like Local by Bharat Pawar and Good Morning Mumbai – a student animation film directed by Rajesh Thakare and Troy Vasanth from the National Institute of Design.